Leading U.S. epidemiologist Anthony Fauci has proposed a few weeks lockdown in India to contain the spread of the coronavirus as its deadly second wave shows no sign of ebb.
Fauci said in an interview with The Indian Express that another important thing in the immediate vicinity is the supply of oxygen, medication and PPE. He said given the scale of the crisis, India should try to put one together Crisis group that would meet and start organizing things.
Without naming a government, he said one of the things that should have been recognized, that “the victory may have been declared too early”.
“Well, one of the things that you really have to do, as far as you can, is to temporarily close the country, I think it’s important. If we want to take some time off and go back to what I said, there is this Immediate, medium and long range (measures to contain the virus).
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“I think the most important thing in the immediate area is getting oxygen, getting supplies, getting medication, getting PPE, things like that, but also one of the immediate tasks is essentially calling for a land shutdown,” he said to Fauci, who is the chief doctor of the Biden administration.
He said when China had a major explosion of coronavirus cases a year ago, they had ceased entirely. Fauci said it wasn’t necessary to shut down for six months, but it could be temporary to end the transmission cycle.
One of the things to consider is the temporary shutdown, he said.
“Lock down literally so you have less spread. Nobody likes locking the land. Well that’s a problem if you do it for six months,” he said.
But for just a few weeks, a lockdown could have a significant impact on the dynamics of the outbreak.
Some states have imposed a lockdown. Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Lockdown should be the “last resort” to deal with the raging pandemic and urged states to convince migrant workers to stay in their jobs with a guarantee of their lives and livelihoods.
India hit a record high with over 4 lakh new infections on Saturday, while active cases topped the 32 lakh mark.
The second wave of coronavirus has wreaked havoc in the past few days, infecting lakhs and killing thousands every day. There have been cases where people have died due to a lack of medical facilities, including oxygen. In many cases, families have to arrange oxygen for their patients because they cannot be admitted to hospitals.
“I’ve heard of some people on the street who put their mothers and fathers, their sisters and brothers, in search of oxygen. They seem to believe that there really is no organization, no central organization,” said Fauci.
Fauci stressed that vaccination plays a crucial role in managing the coronavirus situation. If India, a country of 1.4 billion people, has only two percent of its total population fully vaccinated, there is still a long way to go.
“You have to get supplies. You have to make contractual arrangements with the various companies that are out there in the world. There are many companies that have vaccines now. I think you have to negotiate with them to try to get them. ” an obligation, “he said.
“Also, India is the largest vaccine-producing country in the world. That’s the thing – you should improve your own vaccine-making skills,” he added.
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